It has been three years since a consortium of 27 partners launched a Horizon 2020 project titled “URBAN-WASTE”. The project brought together key stakeholders along the waste prevention and management, as well as the tourism value chain in order to develop eco-innovative and gender strategies in cities with high levels of tourism in order to reduce the urban waste production and improve municipal waste management.
11 pilot cities and regions, spanning across Europe – from Nicosia in the east to Ponta Delgada in the middle of the Atlantic ocean and from Copenhagen in the north to Tenerife in the sub-tropical south, boarded this 3-years long journey redefining their tourism and waste management value chains, practices, approaches and principles in general. Thanks to a number of universities, NGOs and consultants who provided valuable input and skills, the pilots had the opportunity to assess their urban metabolism performances and look into improving certain processes in order to achieve more sustainable tourism locally.
Three specific objectives of the project that were common for all the 11 cities and regions and that brought together a large number of local stakeholders, experts, tourists, decision makers and more were developing integrated eco-innovative strategies for municipal waste policies, fostering and structuring a stakeholder inclusive framework for policy-making in waste management and addressing gender in waste prevention and management.
Three years later, these 11 cities and regions, together with their local stakeholders and the rest of the consortium are now proud to be able to present the wider public, European institutions and organisations, local and regional authorities the outcomes, facts and findings and most importantly – the way forward that has been paved by the URBAN-WASTE project.
The Conference will take place in Brussels, at Theatre Balsamine, Avenue Felix Marchal 1 in Schaerbeek, only few streets away from the European quarter founded by Martine Wijckaert in 1974. Originally a part of a set of barracks surrounding Dailly square dating back to the 19th century which became abandoned at one point, the building was reclaimed and turned into an impressive setting which started hosting theatre plays, conferences and other events from 1981.
